Calculating bike fit

There are many ways to fit you on a bike. In a previous article I wrote about selecting a frame based on STACK and REACH and showed you formulas you could use to calculate those measurements for any type of road frame. In this post I am attaching an Excel spreadsheet that purports to give you advice on frame size based on only two measurements.

I was and still am skeptical that so few measurements could give you sizing advice much less accurate advice. I thought I would give it a try anyway. I took my Pedal Force #1, which I know fits me very well and took some basic measurements on the bike. Since I am a long time cyclist and learned how to interpret what my body is telling me on the bike, I usually get close with some basic measurements and then use trial and error to fine tune the fit. Usually it is just trail and very little error when it come to my own fitting.

Now I took the two body measurements that the sheet asks for and plugged in the values. What a surprise, the sheet spit out numbers that were nearly identical to the measurements already on the bike. The few that were off were well within any margin of error in my measuring. I am surprised, but not convinced that this spreadsheet will work for everyone. I have included it here for you to download.

biomechanicalcyclingv6english

I would not rely on this 100% and I think everyone looking to ride regularly and increase performance should see a bicycle fit expert, but this will get you in the ballpark and maybe even prevent someone from buying a frame that is too big/small for them.